NOVPUBChapter 109: Chapter 108 Brotherhood
Chapter 109 -108 Brotherhood
“My name is Luowei Siya, and I am a member of the Miners’ Brotherhood,” the woman began. “You must be the leader of the bandit gang, Mr. Zhao, right?”
“The Brotherhood?” Chaoyang blinked in surprise. These people really weren’t afraid of death. They had just been purged by the city guards and the company forces not so long ago, and now they dared to come to Magnificent Castle!
“Indeed, outsiders call us troublemakers, but in reality, we are just people who refuse to be driven like slaves by GaoTian Mining and have to band together in violent resistance.”
“So… those who were publicly executed and hung on the gallows for all to see on the streets, they were your people?” Ailuodi couldn’t help but interject.
“Yes.” A trace of sadness appeared in Luowei Siya’s eyes, but it was fleeting, and determination quickly replaced it. “We knew early on that GaoTian Mining would target us, but we didn’t expect the city guards to get involved as well. Despite everyone taking precautions, the eventual losses were still greater than anticipated.”
Ailuodi took a deep breath. “It’s because of the GaoTian Mining train heist, isn’t it?”
“That incident was indeed not part of our plan, as we intended to take action when the train entered the mining area,” she admitted.
“Huh?” Angel was startled.
“Honestly, when we got news that someone had beaten us to it, our surprise was even greater than yours,” the woman shook her head. “It’s unexpected that in this new mainland city, besides us, there are others who dare to bare their teeth at the mining company. That’s not something that can be done with mere courage.”
“Hold on a second,” Chaoyang hastily cut off the conversation. “How did you find your way to Yeni Temple? Just because you say we are bandits doesn’t make it true! I don’t know any bandits, have you mistaken me for someone else?”
He feared that if he let the other party continue, Ailuodi might just spill everything about Paradise!
“The two questions you asked are actually one and the same,” Luowei Siya said, unfazed by his denial. “If your people didn’t attack the train, then why would Mr. Jin Kefu now be receiving treatment at Yeni Temple? We found you because we have eyes all over the city, and it just so happened that we saw Jin Kefu.”
A realization struck Chaoyang.
So that was it; they had noticed the players’ presence in the Misty Zone, and perhaps there were their own people concealed on the train itself. But since Zhang Zhiyuan and the others had all stayed behind to fight the enemy to the death, and Angel had fled with him in a vehicle at full speed, they couldn’t immediately approach him.
To locate someone in a city as large as Magnificent Castle without special abilities depended solely on luck.
And this group’s luck turned out to be quite good — because Yeni Temple’s medical patients included miners who had been cast aside by the company. He didn’t believe that the Brotherhood had eyes all over the city, but it made sense that they had informants within the temple.
He also realized another issue. “You wanted to target the armed train because of Jin Kefu?”
Luowei Siya nodded.
“Isn’t he with GaoTian Mining?” Chaoyang moved to sit at the edge of the bed—he wanted to follow local customs, but the floor was simply too dirty. “You claim to be resisters, yet you think about saving a manager from GaoTian Company. This is rather ironic!” 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝔭𝔲𝔟.𝖈𝖔𝔪
“You…” Luowei Siya couldn’t immediately respond.
Perhaps she hadn’t expected Chaoyang to figure out the man’s identity.
“How did you come to know Mr. Jin Kefu’s background?” she blurted out, as the Seaguardian behind her couldn’t help but rise to his feet. “Did you put him through a private interrogation?”
“Couldn’t he have told me voluntarily?”
“Impossible! He would never betray the Brotherhood!”
“You have informants… What kind of treatment he received at the Yeni, you should be well aware of,”
“Haiqi, sit down!” Luowei Siya sternly reprimanded, then turned to Chaoyang with an apologetic expression and said, “Please forgive my subordinate’s impudence. I understand that not only does the Temple heal injured miners, but it also went to great lengths to save Mr. Jin Kefu from the brink of death. This is also why we were willing to take the risk to come and meet with you. However, Mr. Jin Kefu is very important to the Brotherhood, and the big companies are also looking for him. Keeping him at the Temple could be dangerous, so we have come to take him away.”
As expected, this was their true purpose.
The problem was that Chaoyang didn’t want to release the person easily.
He also wanted to know what exactly GaoTian Company was mining underground, and why a company manager who defected to the resistance could still be trusted so much.
“Ahem… About that… the medical fees haven’t been settled,” Chaoyang mused, “He’s been lying there for so long, what with being unconscious and having a high fever… The cost of medicine, care, bed, food… all together, it’s probably about…”
“How could you be like this?” the person behind him cried out again, “Other miners have never been charged like this!”
“But you also said, his status is special, and the nuns have put in a lot of effort.”
“Mr. Zhao, we, of course, came prepared, not to let you suffer any loss.” Luowei Siya bent down to open the wooden box in front of her, then pushed it towards Chaoyang.
Inside the box were several stones emitting a faint luminescence.
“This thing… it doesn’t have radiation, does it?” Ailuodi subconsciously moved back.
“Is this also ore?” Chaoyang asked.
“Yes, and it’s the highest quality special ore, called by the company ‘Pale Tears’. It can be used as a core for strange constructs or for repairing arcane Divine Artifacts, and its value in grams is not inferior to gold. I think… they should be enough to cover the medical expenses.”
Chaoyang didn’t know the value of the Pale Tears, but he understood the worth of gold.
A few gold bars would be worth thousands of Serir.
He was hesitating whether to come up with another excuse, when the masked person stood up again, “I thought we were all warriors rising up against the company, but it turns out you are like a merchant, so dishonest with us. I’m truly disappointed! I even secretly passed on messages for your people, helping you intercept the trackers following you, without ever asking for anything in return!”
“The one who passed the note that day was from your side?” Chaoyang exclaimed in surprise.
“That’s right, and those who had their eyes on you were the city guards! I don’t know what you have done to attract their attention, but Shandela Allen is not someone to be trifled with!”
“I see… then I suppose I owe you one,” Chaoyang admitted.
Luowei Siya gestured for the masked man to sit down and spoke in a gentle tone, “Your team attacked the GaoTian Mining train, freed the slaves in it, and brought a gravely injured stranger back to the Temple for treatment. Aren’t those already several favors? The Magnificent Castle has been divided up by the megacorporations and people have grown accustomed to their presence, unaware of the dangers they’re in. It is rare to see individuals like you and your team; we simply did what we felt we should.”
Chaoyang hadn’t expected that even among the Seaguardian miners there would be someone so adept at diplomacy.
Perhaps the Brotherhood had more potential than he had thought.
But what a pity… Chaoyang thought internally. Under the Lingxi vision, Luowei Siya’s head bore only a faint white light, and her two guards did not emit any glow at all. This meant that the three of them hardly had any value in signing a contract; collaborating with them would bring no benefits.
